Anyone care to venture a guess on age?

About Steel Guitarists and their Music

Moderators: Dave Mudgett, Brad Bechtel

Kay Hummel
Posts: 6
Joined: 17 Nov 2025 10:41 am
Location: St. Peters
State/Province: Missouri
Country: United States

Anyone care to venture a guess on age?

Post by Kay Hummel »

I just picked up this odd duck of a lap steel. It is branded Guya on one headstock. From the limited history I can find, the original builder started his company in 1933, and was conscripted into the military in 1940 when everything went on hold. I am guessing it was a cottage industry business. He restarted manufacture in 1948 and started using the Guyatone name in 1951.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
User avatar
Brendan Mitchell
Posts: 1560
Joined: 26 Nov 2000 1:01 am
Location: Melbourne Australia
State/Province: -
Country: United States

Re: Anyone care to venture a guess on age?

Post by Brendan Mitchell »

Did Guya morph into Guyatone?
Donny Hinson
Posts: 21794
Joined: 16 Feb 1999 1:01 am
Location: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
State/Province: -
Country: United States

Re: Anyone care to venture a guess on age?

Post by Donny Hinson »

Brendan Mitchell wrote: 23 Jan 2026 5:29 pm Did Guya morph into Guyatone?
Yes, that Japanese company started as" GUYA" back in the the 1930's, but morphed back and forth between that and "GUYATONE" and "GUYA-TONE" through the years. I'd guess that being a 6-8 console, it was made in the late '40s or early '50s', because the 8-stringers weren't really that popular until after WWII.